Cut Down to Size!
by lkcrm94
Summary: The Raccoon gang are miniaturised in an accident and Cyril becomes concerned for Cedric's whereabouts.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's notes: I originally posted this story on a Raccoons web-group last February, but I've since revisited it and I've done a couple of teeny changes (corrected spelling mistakes, changed some dialogue/descriptions etc) but they shouldn't be too noticeable to those who've read this before.**

**I based this on a story I wrote way back when I was a kid. I've intended this fan-fic to be set around the time of the stuff that happened in the show's second season – I'm trying not to sound like an anorak here! It's simply because I'm more familiar with those episodes, hence appearances from Sophia and the humans, who were written out at different points (Ralph's mentioning of them not seeing each other for a while is actually a reference to Sophia's gradual departure, as she appeared a lot less in season 2 as opposed to season 1 and the specials). I tend to focus more on what characters say while writing something, so there is usually more dialogue than description in my stories.**

**Anyway, hope you like it. The Raccoons is created by Kevin Gillis and owned by Evergreen Raccoons Marketing Inc.**

* * *

It was another beautiful summer's day in the Evergreen Forest. The sun travelled steadily above the picturesque mountaintops and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. Fish and ducks swam peacefully in the huge lake. Birds flew through the trees and called to one another. All seemed calm. However, if you took a closer look, not everything was as calm as things appeared; inside one tree, the Raccoondominium, the residents were gathered with some of their closest friends to prepare themselves for a camping trip.

In the huge downstairs room of the Raccoondominium, Ralph and Melissa Raccoon and Sophia Tutu were sorting through their camping backpacks, putting in sleeping bags, maps and other important equipment. The large tent was packed up and sitting by the bags. Bert Raccoon was running back and forth from his room and his voluminous blue camping bag, packing toys, games and all manners of fun things.

"Is that everything?" asked Sophia as she stood up.

"Yeah, that should be everything," answered Melissa. "Oh, I can't wait to begin on this camping trip."

"Yeah, me too!" Bert added as he made the journey down the stairs with handfuls of games. "This is gonna be the best camping trip ever! Good thinkin', Ralph."

The friends agreed and applauded Ralph, for it was his idea in the first place. Ralph smiled at this appreciation. "Thanks guys. I'm pleased you could all come along for this camping trip. I was hoping we could all do something special like this someday since we haven't all been together for a long time."

"Ages," said Bert as he made his way back upstairs again. He came back down with more games. "This'll be fun – just all of us, exploring the wilderness, camping by the mountains, fishing by the lake, fighting away jungle monsters…" he continued as he began to shove the games into the camping bag.

"Gee, you sure are packing an awful lot of stuff for this trip," Sophia pointed out.

"Nah," Bert disclaimed. "Just a few…uh…pieces of…important…equipment that'll come in…handy…" he spoke as he struggled to close the backpack. He managed to force the top shut and slumped down onto the couch, exhausted. "Phew," he gasped breathlessly, "That's tough work."

His friends laughed. "Yeah Bert," said Ralph, "But you can't take _all_ your possessions!"

Bert got back up and looked in the bag. "Well I suppose I could take a few things out to lighten the load," he pondered. He reached into the bag and took out some comic-books and a few other toys and began to walk upstairs with them.

"Bert, I thought you said you were going to bring along something to entertain us all around the fire," said Melissa. "You did remember, didn't you?"

"Oh, uh…" Bert giggled anxiously, "Yeah, about that, I…uh…thought of something. I'll just go get it…right now. Won't be long." He ran back upstairs. Ralph, Melissa and Sophia could hear clanging and bumping above them.

"Do you think he forgot?" asked Ralph.

A cry of "Ah-ha, this'll do!" came from upstairs and Bert came back down with two guitars in his hands.

"Hey, that's a good idea," the friends commented.

"I'm gonna bring these so Cedric and I can play some music around the campfire. Say, where is Cedric anyway?" Bert wondered as he looked around the room. "And where's Schaeffer and Broo?"

"Well," replied Melissa, "Schaeffer said he and Broo would arrive here later then the rest of us."

"Oh," said Bert unenthusiastically.

"What about Cedric?" asked Ralph.

Melissa looked thoughtful. "I don't know," she said. "He didn't say he would be late."

"I wonder what's keeping him," wondered Ralph.

"Cedric was all ready to go yesterday," said Sophia. "He might still be at the Sneer Mansion. Maybe we should go there and find out?" she suggested.

"Yeah," agreed Ralph and Melissa.

Bert was once again resting on the couch. "Yeah, but you three go on ahead, I'll catch up," he yawned. "All that packing's worn me out."

By now, the rest of the friends had put the camping bags on their backs and were stepping out the door and a note for Schaeffer was now pinned to it. "Come on," called Melissa.

Bert rose from the couch and staggered over to his camping bag, but it was still heavy and he struggled to pick it up. Ralph, Melissa and Sophia helped him put it on his back (that's what friends are for!) and they headed out to Sneer Mansion together.


	2. Chapter 2

The Sneer Mansion was about a ten-minute walk from the Raccoondominum. The mansion was a forbidding-looking place, with its stone walls and iron railings. Security devices had been set up and hidden around the entrance and they focused on the gang as they approached.

As the group walked into the grounds, they noticed some markings on the floor, as if some sort of heavy object had been dragged around from the entrance of the mansion. The friends stepped towards the solid wooden door and Bert knocked the brass door-knocker. There was a moment's wait and the door opened. One of the pigs stood at the doorway and he looked tired and flustered.

"Hi there," said Bert friendlily. "It sure is a great day, isn't it?"

"No. What do you want anyway?" the pig demanded.

Bert looked a bit surprised at this reaction and looked over to his friends for help.

"We're wondering where Cedric is, that's all," Melissa answered.

The pig wiped the sweat from his forehead. "One moment," he said as he stepped back into the mansion. The friends stood patiently outside.

"Hey, what's gotten his tail in a twist?" asked Bert. Before the others could guess, the door reopened again and Cedric Sneer was standing in the doorway. He too looked a bit exhausted but was pleased to see his friends.

"Hi Cedric!" said the friends.

"Hi gang," said Cedric as he smiled. "Have Schaeffer and Broo not arrived yet?"

"Not yet. We just stopped by to see if you were here," said Ralph. "We were ready for the camping trip and we didn't know where you were."

"Gee, I'm sorry I'm late," apologised Cedric, "I was ready to go but something arrived and I must've spent so long with it I must have forgotten to check the time."

"That's alright," said Bert. "But, uh…what was it?" He looked through the door.

"What was what?" asked Cedric. "Oh, you mean…? Come on, I'll show you all if you want." Cedric walked back into the mansion, followed by the others. The inside of the mansion looked grand and castle-like, with statues, torches and coat-of-arms hanging from the walls. Cedric led the group through a labyrinth of corridors and staircases until they were in the dungeons. As they turned a corner, Cedric suddenly halted and signalled for the guys to get back.

"What is it?" asked Bert.

Cedric signalled for Bert to talk quieter. "It's just two of the pigs. They're standing in the corridor."

"Are we not supposed to know about this thing?" asked Ralph quietly.

Cedric shook his head. "I don't think so, but I don't see the harm in it."

The guys waited against the wall, out of the pigs' view. The third pig came out of one of the many doors and joined his brothers. He put his hat on his head.

"Is that everything?" asked one of them.

"Of course it is," replied the pig that had just arrived. "Tee hee, won't the boss be pleased?" he said in excitement.

"Yeah! He's bound to give us a raise for _this_!" said the pig which had a different voice to the others. "Hey, why don't we keep it a surprise for his birthday in a few months; we can give it to him then."

"That's not a bad thought. Good idea, Lloyd."

The pigs laughed as they walked down the corridor away from the gang, who quietly crept into the room the pigs had left. The room was swamped with some sort of vast machinery, painted white and covered with buttons and dials. A clear box, about the size of a bungalow, stood in the middle of the room and above it hung what looked like a giant hair-dryer aimed downward. Standing next to the box was a desk with a retro 80s-style computer sitting on it, which too was connected to the main machine. The Raccoons and Sophia were amazed at this sight.

"Wow," said Bert in awe. "It's…it's…HUGE…"

"Goodness, what is this? What's it for?" asked Sophia.

Cedric walked over to the computer and read the name off the back. "It's a Zentothred-3000. It's for Pop. The pigs and I were expecting it next week but it came today instead, and we've spent all of today assembling it."

"Was it a lot of money?" asked Ralph.

"No," said Cedric, "We got it for nothing. Pop saw it on TV as one of the phone-in prizes on _Steal of Fortune_ and he told me about how much he wanted it, so we managed to win it for him. We're keeping it as a surprise."

"That's nice," said Melissa. "I bet Cyril will be really happy when he sees this."

"Uh-huh, Pop's gonna love this," Cedric agreed. He pressed some keys on the computer keyboard, which made it bleep into life, and then he turned to the gang. "Do you want to see what it does?"

"Ha, do we?" smiled Bert. "Yeah! Why not?"

"Okay, but I need something…anything will do."

The Raccoons looked to each other to think and Bert took a baseball bat from his backpack and handed it to Cedric, who placed it in the clear cubicle. Cedric then pressed some keys on the keyboard and all of a sudden, the giant hair-dryer-thing began to glow a teal green colour.

"Okay, stand back!" Cedric ordered. He pressed another key and a green beam shot down from the object – which was really a giant laser gun – and shone through the cubicle and hit the baseball bat. Lights flashed and dials spun as the beam shone down. The friends watched in amazement as the bat began to grow, and grow, and grow, until it could almost reach both ends and heights of the cubicle.

"Hey, it's as big as a tree!" exclaimed Bert.

Cedric typed something else on the keyboard and the bat began to shrink until it was back to its original dimensions. Cedric then stepped into the cubicle, picked up the bat and handed it back to Bert.

"Wow! Hey, that was amazing!" Bert said excitedly.

"I know. I think Pop would use it to increase the amount of gold he has stored in the vault," explained Cedric. "He's been upstairs making deals all day so he never noticed us bringing this in through the side-door."

"So _that's_ what those tracks on the ground were," realised Melissa.

"I've never seen anything like this before," Ralph stated. "Right now, I feel like I could believe anything."

Bert swung the bat a few times and laughed. "It still swings as good!" He put the bat back into his backpack. "Uh, Cedric, could it be used for anything else?"

"Like what?"

"Like…uh…peanut butter supplies?"

"Sure! It works on _anything_."

"That's terrific! Wait 'til Schaeffer and Broo see this. And Bentley too; he loves computers and those kinds of things."

The friends had been happy during this moment, except for Sophia, for she had noticed something the others hadn't. "Cedric?" she asked, "Is that light meant to be flashing red?"

The gang looked to where Sophia was pointing and indeed, a warning light was flashing. The ceiling light began to dim and the machine started to make a low buzzing sound. "That doesn't look good," said Cedric. "It worked fine during the test runs earlier…"

Before Cedric could finish, there was a bang and steam shot out of the machine vents. The gang quickly moved into the cubicle for safety, carrying the backpacks with them. The sound from outside muted when the door was closed.

"We should be safe in here," Cedric announced. "The walls of this thing are safe against anything. Oh, Pop's gonna find out…"

"Why's it suddenly doing this?" asked Melissa.

"Maybe the batteries ran out or the fuse melted or somethin'," Bert suggested.

The gang looked outside the box walls at the machine collapsing around them. The lights on the side flashed frantically and the dials spun faster than ever. The ceiling light suddenly went out and the room was momentarily plunged into darkness and sounds of crashing and buzzing began to bleed through. The gang huddled in the centre as a green light began to shine, faint at first but growing.

Suddenly there was an explosion. The whole of Sneer Mansion shook.


	3. Chapter 3

Just a moment before, Cyril was in his office, trying to make another business deal. He held a pen in one hand and a red telephone speaker in the other. A contract was lying on the desk.

"Yes?" Cyril said down the phone, "Yes, I've got it with me right now. It has been very kind of you (for once) to go through the trouble of sending me this contract through the mail…yes; I am going to sign it right now. One moment."

Cyril put the phone on the desk and began searching through the piles of papers on his desk "Where the heck is that pen? Those pigs have been in here again, messing everything up, turning it into a pigsty." He came across the pen at the bottom of the pile of papers and sat back down with the contract in front of him. He grinned his trademark wicked grin. "Ha! This will be the biggest business deal of the century. When I sign this, I'm going to be so rich the bank vaults will overflow with cash – _my_ cash."

He held the phone back to his ear and said "Now where were we? Ah yes, signing it. I'm going to sign it right now…"

Cyril began to move the tip of the pen towards the contract, but as he was about to sign his name on the dotted line, the whole room shuddered and dust began to fall from the ceiling. Cyril got such a shock he accidentally tore the contract in half.

"ARGH!" he yelled in dismay as he looked at the torn contract, "The contract! It's ruined! Are you still there, Mammoth? Well, you'll have to send me the contract again and pronto…no, you see, this one is torn," Cyril chuckled nervously into the phone. "…I don't know! You will send another contract? Yes? Good…what? One more interruption and the deal's off? Well, er, bye for now…"

Cyril slammed the phone back onto its hook and stood up. "Who does he think he is? 'One more interruption and the deal is off'? Pah! Who made the room shake? Thanks to whoever it was, I'm wasting time not getting richer. I'll get to the bottom of this. It could have been the taxman for all I know!" he shouted to himself as he walked to an intercom on the far wall.

The pigs were in their dormitory, sprawled across the floor from the tremor, along with sandwiches and several Mudman comics. They groaned as they picked themselves up from the floor.

"Oh, what was that?" asked the pig that is called Floyd.

"I don't know!" shouted the pig known by most people as Boyd. "Don't ask me!"

Before anyone else could talk, the intercom switched on and Cyril's gruff voice boomed into the room. "PIGS! Find out what that tremor was caused by, immediately!"

The pigs quickly stood in a line and saluted the intercom. "Yes sir, yes sir, yes sir!" they said together in synchronicity. As soon as the intercom switched off, they ran out of their room and rushed down the corridors in search of an explanation for what had happened. Boyd looked through the kitchen and dining room but was chased away by Snag. The pig called Lloyd (the one with the different voice to the others) looked through the cupboards around the mansion and threw their contents onto the floor.

Floyd, however, looked into the computer room and was open-mouthed with shock. Surely he must be imagining what he could see? He put the ceiling light on, rubbed his eyes and looked again, and the same sight met him again.

All around the room lay pieces of smouldering metal and ash. A cloud of smoke swam through the air and cloaked the walls with dust. The glass cubicle appeared to be gone and only a bare space on the floor reminded anyone where it had been. Somehow, the ceiling light had survived and was working fine.

"Oh no!" Floyd gasped as he began to panic and shake from head to hoof. He quickly shut the door and his eyes darted around the corridors. There was no-one in sight. "This can't be happening! Guys? GUYS!" he yelled as he ran through the corridors. In a moment, the three had arrived in the main hallway.

"What is it?" asked Lloyd.

"Did you find out what happened?" asked Boyd.

"Yes, but it's dreadful!" Floyd wailed.

"What is it?" Lloyd repeated.

Floyd led the other pigs to outside the computer room. He checked to make sure Cyril wasn't watching before slowly opening the door to show the rubble. They too were horrified with what greeted them.

"No! This is terrible!" Boyd shouted in disbelief. "What'll we do now?"

"Now we _can't_ let the boss know," Lloyd said quietly. "If he finds out about the machine and then sees this, he'll flip so bad he'll make a foghorn sound like a kazoo. We'll get the blame for sure!"

"And it's his surprise," Floyd added. "We spent _ages_ helping Cedric make this. What'll Cedric think? He'll be back from his camping trip in a few days."

"No time to waste," said Lloyd frantically. "I've just quickly thought up a plan. Me and you will clean up the remains as quick as we can. You," he said to Boyd, "Keep an eye on the boss to make sure he doesn't come here. If he does, try and stall him." Lloyd and Floyd rushed away to find a broom, vacuum cleaner and bin-bags.

* * *

It took one hour for the mess to be cleared up. Two of the pigs cleaned the room as fast as they could while the third stood silently outside their boss's office. It paid off, for the room was now spotless and empty. The bin-bags were stuffed and waiting to be taken away. All three pigs admired the work done.

"It's as if nothing ever happened. Hee hee!" giggled Boyd.

"Spick and span," Floyd added.

"Right," Lloyd agreed. "Now all we've got to do is to take all this down to the junkyard and then try to get a replacement machine. There was a returns-policy thing with this, wasn't there?"

"Yeah," Floyd said as he bolted and locked the door shut so no-one could get in. The pigs spent the next 15 minutes dragging the bin-bags to a truck in the garage until there were no more left to carry. The pigs raced the truck out of the grounds of the mansion to the filthy rubbish tip, the only unpleasant place in the forest. The bags were thrown back out of the truck and they bounced down the steep slope towards the heaps of trash.

"Tee hee! Nobody's gonna be any the wiser!" said Floyd gleefully.

"Now all we have to do is get back to the mansion and wipe any security camera footage showing us driving here," instructed Lloyd. "You know what the boss is like about security. He's bound to check."

"Hey, make sure you hide the key from Cedric when he comes back," said Boyd as the truck sped away, leaving a cloud of dust.


	4. Chapter 4

"Oh, my head…" groaned Bert as he sat up groggily and rubbed his eyes.

Ralph, Melissa, Cedric and Sophia were waking back up too. They all took the backpacks off their backs and stepped out of the cubicle and their eyes squinted at the intense sunlight. The cubicle wasn't inside the mansion any more; it stood in the middle of a large outdoor plain of land, surrounded by and mounds of rubbish and unwanted items. "What's happened?" asked Ralph.

"Well it looked like the machine got destroyed," Cedric said.

"Yeah, I knew that," replied Ralph. "What I meant was what happened while we were out?"

"Gee Ralph, I don't know," said Cedric, "but whatever has happened, it doesn't look good. Look at this place," he said as he looked around at the trash-filled mounds. "It's nowhere I've ever been before."

"I see what you mean," Melissa spoke. "This certainly isn't Sneer Mansion."

"But where are we?" asked Sophia. "This place looks strange. We could be miles from the mansion…"

Bert suddenly jumped up and interrupted: "Hey, I know this place! This is the junkyard. I pass this place on my paper route. It's only about half an hour away from Sneer Mansion. I know the way!"

"The junkyard?" asked Cedric. "But if someone cleared up the remains of the machine and put them here, why take us here too? Surely they must have seen us."

Melissa pointed to one of the giant mounds. "Look at that bike! Is it me, or is it much larger than a normal bike?" The gang looked at the rusty bicycle frame Melissa had spotted and Cedric went pale.

"That's weird," said Ralph to her, "Not even a whale could control a bike like that."

"Of course a whale couldn't, the bike doesn't even have wheels," added Bert.

"This doesn't seem right," Sophia pondered. "It's not just the bike. Look at everything else around it. _Everything_ next to it looks big too."

"Yeah, everything," Bert repeated. He noticed Cedric looking at the floor. "Hey Cedric, you look kinda worried about something…"

"That's right, Bert," replied Cedric, "Because I've realised what's happened. You know when the machine was breaking down?" The gang nodded, eager to find out. "Well, it must have still been working when we hid in the cubicle. We've been shrunk."

"What?" asked a surprised Ralph.

"Oh no!" said Sophia.

"That's awful" said Melissa.

"Shrunk?" asked Bert to Cedric. "Uh, Cedric…how small are we now?"

Cedric looked around. "Well, uh…I guess we're about a couple of inches tall…"

"Really? That's…that's…that's brilliant!" exclaimed Bert excitedly. "WOW! Imagine us, this small! Hey, that's cool!"

The gang seemed shocked at Bert's reaction. "What? Bert, you're not serious, surely?" asked Melissa.

"Sure I'm serious," Bert replied.

"But Bert, don't you realise the problems we'll have being this small?" she asked again.

Bert looked a bit crushed at this and giggled nervously. "Well…uh…no…what problems?"

"Yeah," said Ralph. "Problems. Since we're only a couple of inches tall now, we won't be able to reach anything we'd usually be able to in the house or anywhere else. Imagine trying to get up and down the stairs."

"True," said Bert, "But I still think…"

"And I think it'd take a _lot_ longer for you to do your paper route now, don't you?" Melissa questioned.

Bert scratched his head. "Well, yeah…uh…"

"And what about trying to get one of those peanut butter popsicles you like out of the fridge?" asked Sophia. "It would be impossible for you to open the door and get one from the top shelf."

Bert looked at the floor in dismay. "Oh. No, I didn't think of that. Well, what are we gonna do? I mean, we gotta do somethin'. We could make the machine grow us back."

"Yeah, but the machine is completely destroyed, remember?" explained Cedric. "There's pieces of it all around us, see?" He pointed to one of the huge bin-bags with rubble falling out of the side.

"Well we can just build a new one, can't we?" asked Bert.

"We can't do that," said Melissa. "We don't know how to make one. But we can get the pigs to try and fix it, can't we? They were assembling it earlier with Cedric."

"That's not a bad idea," agreed Ralph. He stepped towards Cedric. "Cedric, there was a manual came with it, wasn't there?" Cedric nodded and Ralph turned back to the rest of the guys. "Then we can do that then. We can do what Melissa said and go back to the mansion to get the pigs fix the machine and get us back to normal height."

"Yeah!" said Bert as he put the shrunken backpack on his back. "Let's go now!"

"But it'll take ages to get there at our height," said Sophia, checking her wristwatch. "It could take until tomorrow to get back to the mansion. It's the afternoon already."

"Tomorrow?" asked Bert, stunned. "But what about shelter for the night? And what'll we do for food?"

"That's alright," said Cedric. "We've all got the camping equipment and food with us. We can use them. See?" He pointed at the backpack Bert was carrying.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about the camping stuff," said Bert. "Well come on! We've gotta get to the mansion! It's this way!" he shouted enthusiastically as he pointed up to the huge trees above them. The gang began to step away from where they were and started making the long climb up the steep slope that led to the rubbish tip.

"Say," said Ralph, "I wonder what Schaeffer and Broo are doing now…"

* * *

At that exact moment, Schaeffer was walking through the forest towards the Racoondominuim, with Broo running along in front of him. Schaeffer didn't have a backpack with him, he didn't really need one, but he held a bag containing a barbecue and some other things for the camp. Broo ran around in a circle and barked playfully.

Schaeffer laughed. "Not long now. I bet the gang will be really pleased to see those tricks you've learnt. There it is," he said when the Raccoondominuim came into view. Broo sped up and wagged his tail as Schaeffer knocked on the door. There was no reply. Schaeffer looked confused and knocked the door again.

Still no reply. Schaeffer was beginning to get a bit concerned. "It looks like no-one's home," he said to Broo. He looked at the door and saw the note that had been pinned there earlier that day. Schaeffer took it and read the letter aloud: "Gone to Sneer Mansion. Meet you there." He looked at Broo again. "I guess we've got to go to the mansion to see them. I wonder why they went there," he said to Broo as they began to head to the mansion.

They soon arrived at the mansion and Schaeffer knocked on the tall door and Cyril answered. He was accompanied by Snag, who growled viciously at Broo to make him scared.

"It's you," said Cyril in an annoyed tone. "What do _you_ want? And make it fast; I'm expecting an important phone call very soon!"

"Excuse me, Mr Sneer, I was wondering where Cedric and the Raccoons are. I read a note from them saying they'd be here." He held the note up to Cyril.

There was a moment's silence as Cyril thought. "Well I don't know where they are," he replied. "And I haven't seen them. Cedric was packing for your camping trip last night. Perhaps you're too late for them? They may have left without you!" He laughed evilly.

"They'd _never_ forget us! If they did, why did they leave us a note?" Schaeffer protested. Broo looked past Cyril and caught sight of the pigs, and alerted Schaeffer. "What? Good thinking. Mr Sneer, Broo asks if the pigs know where they are," he told Cyril.

Cyril scowled and closed the door until it was slightly ajar. He glared up the stairs and shouted "Pigs!" to get the pigs' attention.

The pigs were worried when they heard their boss's voice. "Oh no!" whispered Boyd, "Do you think the boss has found out about…_that_?" The others shrugged their shoulders and they rushed up to Cyril and stood in a line in front of him, like soldiers waiting for a command from a general.

"Yes sir? You called, sir?" the pigs said nervously.

"No, just stand there whenever you please (!)," Cyril said sarcastically at them. "Of course I called, you bacon-brains! I want to know where Cedric is, now! One of his friends is asking for him."

The pigs sighed with relief. "Phew," said Floyd, "We thought you were gonna ask about…I mean, no, I don't know."

"And I'm not just asking _you_, I'm asking _those_ idiots too!" Cyril pointed at the other pigs.

Boyd and Lloyd gulped. "W…we…we don't know either, sir…"

When Cyril heard this, he almost choked on the cigar he held with his teeth. "What? You don't know? You should know!"

"Well sir, we _have_ checked security, but none of the cameras showed them leaving the mansion," said Floyd quickly.

"None of them," Boyd added, giving Floyd a nudge in the ribs. "We thought they'd already gone until we checked."

Cyril began to feel worried. He left the pigs for a moment and walked back to the door, where Schaeffer and Broo were still waiting. "Excuse me, please…" Cyril said, trying to sound calm, as he booted Snag back into the mansion and closed the door abruptly. Shouting could be heard from inside.

Schaeffer looked up at one of the windows above him and then at Broo. "Hmm, something is definitely going on here. Cyril looked genuinely worried, and I'm starting to feel a little concerned too. Come on Broo, we'll go to the campsite; they may be there." He walked out of the iron gateway with the puppy.

But the gang weren't at the place they had planned to camp, and they weren't visible when the dogs were walking through the forest. The gang were to set up camp near the base of one of the large mountains that pierced the sky, but when Schaeffer and Broo arrived, the place was eerily empty and silent. They climbed a bit further up the mountain and scanned the horizon for any sign of the gang, but there was none. Perhaps if they waited a little longer, then the gang would show up? Schaeffer sat down on a large rock to wait for the Raccoons and he tried to keep their spirits up, but there was no show.

Schaeffer sighed and picked up Broo. "Gee Broo, it looks like there isn't going to be a camp tonight," he reluctantly explained. "Where could the gang have gone? They're not anywhere we'd expect them to be. Even Cyril Sneer doesn't know where they are. It's as if they just disappeared completely." Schaeffer carried Broo back down the mountain and made another visit to the Raccoondominium, where Schaeffer wrote another letter ("Just stopped by earlier – no-one in or around, see you soon") for the Raccoons and posted it through the letterbox before setting off back to the cabin with Broo.

* * *

Back in the hallway of Sneer mansion, Cyril had the pigs stood in a line once again and was still shouting at them. "What do you mean, 'none of them'?" Cyril demanded. "And why were _you_ looking at security footage?"

"We were checking all the videos in case there was any sign of…uh…" Floyd tried to think of an excuse.

"Yes?"

"…Birds! Everybody loves birds," Lloyd told Cyril.

"I love birds," Boyd said. "I like it when they eat the bird-feed I put on the lawn for them every morning."

"You'll be turned into feed if you don't try to find Cedric now! If he hasn't been seen outside, he must still be inside…with those pesky raccoons! I can't have them in here. Start searching every room in this mansion NOW!"

"But sir, supposing they got outside without the security devices sensing them?" suggested Lloyd.

"It can happen," Boyd added.

"Hmm," Cyril pondered. "Yes, it can happen. In that case, you three get outside and search the forest while I stay here and search the mansion. I don't want Cedric to be in any danger, wherever he is. Now get going!"

The pigs saluted their boss and replied with "Yes sir!" before scuttling out the front door.

When the pigs were gone, Cyril made his way to a table by the stairs and sat down at it. He put his hands on his head and sighed. "Why has Cedric just vanished so suddenly? Was it something _I_ did?"

Before Cyril could think any more, he heard the phone ring from upstairs. Cyril rushed to his office and picked the phone up. "Hello? Mammoth? Listen, we'll have to do this business deal some other time. I can't do this now because I need to find my son. What's that? …it doesn't bother you? Well it matters to me! My son's safety is more important than this business deal…I don't care that this is the 'one more interruption'! I'm hanging up now. The deal is off!" Cyril slammed the phone down and he looked so mad he could explode.

"Gargh! I've cancelled the biggest deal I could have ever signed, the biggest amount of money I could have received!" He breathed slowly and tried to relax. "But it doesn't matter," he told himself, "Cedric is more important than that deal, and I have to find him before he gets hurt. I suppose I could start looking downstairs first," he said softly as he turned to walk out the room.


	5. Chapter 5

The gang trudged exhaustedly through the once-small plants and flowers. It had been a tiring experience for them all to actually get out of the junkyard and start walking along the side of the road to the mansion. But they had all decided to walk through the forest because the journey would be shorter, or so they thought. The side of the road had been a gentle place to walk by, but walking through the gigantic forest was much more tiring.

"Guys, I'm exhausted," gasped Bert. "Can't we rest yet? I feel like I've walked round the whole world!"

"That's a good idea," groaned Melissa. The gang took the heavy backpacks off and sat down together on a small rock nearby.

"That's the furthest I've _ever_ walked before," said Ralph.

"Me too," said Cedric.

"Bert, how far do you think we are from the mansion?" asked Sophia.

"I don't know," replied Bert sorrowfully. "If we'd stayed on the road, we'd probably be closer to it then we are now."

"I wish we'd stayed on the road too," said Melissa. As the gang thought what to do next, they suddenly heard something crashing through the forest somewhere in the distance, coming closer. They quickly looked around to see what was making the sound.

"Its…its…its monsters! They'll see us here!" panicked Bert.

Melissa began with "Bert, it's not going to be…" but before she could finish, some giant forms suddenly appeared out of the forest and rushed past, knocking them all over. The gang fell to the floor and the giant things were gone.

"You see, you see? It was monsters!" said Bert triumphantly.

"They weren't monsters," said Melissa shakily. "If we were normal height, they wouldn't look so scary. Besides, we could have been trampled on."

Sophia picked herself up. "Whatever they were, I don't think they noticed us."

Cedric was looking over to where the things had gone, and he hurried back to the group, excited. "Gang, look! It's the pigs!"

"The pigs?" asked the friends, overjoyed.

"Yahoo! That's our ticket outta here!" shouted Bert gleefully and the miniaturised gang peered over some thick tree roots to see what was happening. The things that had ran past before were indeed the pigs, and they now slouched against some trees, panting. Each of them looked worried.

"It's no good," said Floyd nervously. "We've searched the _whole_ forest and there's been no sign of Cedric or those raccoons. Not even any footprints!"

"Gee," said Boyd, "What'll the boss think?"

"I don't know," replied Lloyd, "But I know he's not going to be happy. I've never seen him so worried for Cedric's safety. Oh, what happens if the boss finds out about what happened with that Zento…Zenta…whatever it is?"

"He's not gonna find out," Floyd said reassuringly. "He doesn't know about it and he never will because I've hidden the key to the room. And even if he gets in there, he's not going to find anything – the room's empty anyways. And Cedric's not here so he won't know either; it's only us know about it. It's our little secret, right boys?"

"Right!" repeated the other pigs.

The gang turned to each other and looked back at the pigs. "What'll we do?" asked Cedric. "They won't be able to see us from there."

"They can't see us, but they'll sure be able to hear us," said Ralph. "Come on, we'll have to shout to get their attention." The gang started shouting and calling and jumping up and down to get the pigs' attention.

"Hey, can you two hear that?" said Boyd.

"Huh? Hear what?" asked Lloyd.

"I can hear voices."

The Raccoons shouted louder and started frantically waving at the pigs to get noticed. "I can't hear anything," said Floyd. "Are you sure it's not that useless talking watch you got last Christmas?"

Boyd produced a small watch from his sleeve and looked at it. "Yeah, it is. Hey, for a moment there, I thought I could hear voices calling for us."

"Imagine if you could!" said Lloyd and the pigs laughed together. "Well, I suppose we better go back to the mansion in time for dinner." The other pigs agreed and they trotted away to the mansion.

The gang stopped shouting and turned back to each other, crestfallen. "Well, that didn't work," said Ralph. They all looked at the floor in sorrow. "I suppose we'll have to walk the rest of the way."

"Yeah, but we can make it!" said Bert. "It'll be difficult to do, but we will! Come on, let's go!"

"But Bert, look at the sky," Melissa said as she pointed at the sky. Bert looked through the huge leaves on the trees above and could see the sky darkening and the afternoon clouds turning a pink-orange.

"It's going to be dark soon," said Ralph. "We'll have to find a safe place to set up a campsite for tonight. Over there looks an okay spot, right?"

Cedric looked upset. "Yes, Ralph," he said quietly as he opened his backpack to take some tent-poles out.

* * *

It didn't take long for the small tent to be set up. The sky was now as black as night and stars twinkled above the trees. The gang sat on a small branch lying on the floor not far from the tent, and they had made a small bonfire from some twigs. The tent sat at the side of a small cave. Cedric was quieter than the rest of the group.

"Well gang, we've got the campsite set up," said Ralph with a brave face. "But I wish it could be the way we intended it to be."

"Everything looks kinda strange when we're this small, don't you think?" asked Bert. "Yeah, I just hope there's no huge creatures in that cave. Say Cedric, what's wrong? You've been acting kinda sad for a while."

Cedric looked at the floor and sighed. "Well, I'm worried about Pop. He doesn't know where I am or if I'm safe. We heard what the pigs said; they said Pop was worried about me. Pop knew about the camping trip but he must have realised something happened to us. I don't want Pop to be so upset; I just want him to know I'm safe." He looked at the stars up above.

"Cyril must be worried," said Sophia, "But he'd be very happy to know you're safe. And we'll be at the mansion tomorrow."

"Sure," said Cedric quietly. His head lowered again. "Uh, guys? I need to say something to you all: I'm sorry about what's happened today. If I had just gone with you instead of focusing too much on the machine, none of this would have happened."

"Ah Cedric buddy, that's alright," replied Bert. "It's not your fault; it's not anyone's fault we've became this small. And besides, being like this ain't _that_ bad. I mean, things coulda been worse."

"I feel sorry for Schaeffer and Broo," said Sophia. "They had their hearts set on this camping trip as well as us. They must be really disappointed."

"They'd understand. They'd know we wouldn't have forgotten about them," said Ralph. "What d'you think they're doing right now?"

"They'll be back at the cabin," said Melissa. "It's a shame they're not with us here, but at least they'll have some company."

"Yeah," said Cedric sorrowfully.

Bert suddenly sat up and spoke slightly louder than before. "Come on guys," he said. "I know we're in trouble now but couldn't we put our sad feelings to one side tonight? Schaeffer and Broo wouldn't want us to be upset, and neither does Ralph or anyone else!" He picked up one of the guitars.

The gang thought for a moment. "You're right," said Melissa. "We need to stop worrying. We'll be back to normal by tomorrow. Tomorrow's not that far away." All around, there were smiles of agreement. And for the rest of the night, the gang put away their sorrow and had fun singing, telling stories and remembering times past, but they knew deep down inside that there were others who wouldn't be having fun.


	6. Chapter 6

The next day arrived quickly, and the morning sun once again beat down upon the forest. The Raccoon gang had gotten up early to set off for Sneer Mansion as soon as they could. The rest of the forest residents were waking up and eating breakfast to begin the new day, but Cyril wasn't looking forward to this day one bit.

Cyril sat in his office with a large map of the mansion laid out in front of him. The pigs stood by the wall, waiting for instructions. "Where could Cedric be?" asked Cyril frantically as he surveyed the map. "Everywhere I've looked and there's been no sign of him or his friends." He held a pen in his hand and marked each room on the map with a cross.

Boyd raised his hand. "Sir, have you checked his room? He might be there…"

"And I've already looked there!" Cyril bellowed. He tore the map into little shreds. "I've looked in every room of the mansion."

"_Every_ room?" asked Lloyd nervously.

"Yes, I…hmm, as a matter of fact, there was a small matter of the computer room downstairs…"

"Oh…what about it, sir?" asked Floyd nervously, forgetting that the computer room was now empty.

"…It was locked."

"That's good…uh, I mean, they won't be in there if it's locked."

"I want you three porky porkers to get back out into the forest and start searching for Cedric and those raccoons again. And this time, find him!"

"But sir, we've searched the whole forest," moaned Lloyd.

"So?" Cyril approached the pigs menacingly. "That means you've got to search the rest!"

"But sir, supposing they came back here without anyone noticing?" suggested Lloyd, in an attempt to stay away from searching outside.

"It can happen," added Boyd like the way he did the day before.

Cyril thought again. "You hams aren't making sense. First you said they're outside, now you're saying they're inside. But I suppose we could all search together. Three pigs can be as good as one small bit of help when the time is right. Well, don't just stand there like the dumb pigs you are, get looking!"

The pigs obeyed and they rushed out the room to comb through the many rooms and passages of the mansion. Cyril also looked, but also spent time watching over the pigs. They ran through each room and looked from high to low for any sign of the gang. Floyd seemed to be looking through small boxes and plant pots, as if he was looking for something else.

At one point, the four entered the fancy living room. While Lloyd and Boyd looked in 'real' places, Floyd once didn't appear to be looking for Cedric. Instead, he was looking through small caskets and pots sitting on the rococo fireplace. He was muttering to himself so much he didn't realise Cyril was watching.

"Well?" shouted Cyril. "I'm not interrupting whatever you're doing, am I?"

Floyd spun round and put a casket back on the mantelpiece. "Oh, uh, no sir!" he spluttered. "I was just…about to look for Cedric, and…"

"I don't care what you were doing!" shouted Cyril at the defenceless pig. He snatched the casket from Floyd's weak grasp. "You're supposed to be looking for my son! You should have been looking for him earlier and you should be looking for him now! Unless your pig-brained mind thought Cedric would be in one of these expensive, decorative trinkets," he said as he held the casket into the light to inspect it. "Ha! _Did you think he would be small enough to hide in one of them?_ Now get searching properly!"

The other pigs looked up as Cyril left the room. Floyd shakily replied with a weak "yes sir" before turning back to the fireplace. And the pigs gasped as a sudden thought hit them.

"Did you hear what he said?" asked Boyd. He looked pale.

"Yes!" said Lloyd. "I've had a horrid thought. You don't think Cedric and the Raccoons could have been shrunk by…you-know-what?"

"I've thought that too!" replied Boyd. "Oh no! That means we have to get that machine back working again! There's no time to get a replacement! We'll need to unlock the computer room, fix the machine and get them back again…they're at the junkyard!"

"They won't be there now," said Lloyd. "They'll be somewhere else in the forest for sure! What were _you_ looking in those caskets for? Did you know?" he asked Floyd.

Floyd shook his head. "I was looking for…something else. I forgot where I hid the key to the computer room…"

"WHAT?" Lloyd shouted, stunned.

"But its okay, I've found it now," Floyd said as he held the old key.

"Good," said Boyd. "Quick, let's get to the junkyard and recover the machine parts while the boss is elsewhere!"

The pigs rushed to the truck again and swerved frantically to the junkyard. They quickly picked up all the bin-bags, packed them back into the truck and sped back to the mansion. They carried the bags to the computer room as fast as they could and stuffed them through the door.

"There, that's the last of 'em," sighed Lloyd.

"Phew, it's a good thing you found the key," said Boyd to Floyd.

"Yeah, but its no good," said Floyd. "We haven't found Cedric or the Raccoons. They could be _anywhere_! And the boss is getting more stressed the longer Cedric's gone."

* * *

However, somewhere else in the forest, another party were enjoying themselves. Two human children, Julie and Tommy, were enjoying a fun trail-walk through the forest and they were accompanied by their father, Dan the forest ranger, and also Schaeffer and Broo. The kids were talking and laughing to each other and Dan carried a green backpack (which contained some lunchboxes and equipment for the trail) on his shoulders. Schaeffer was standing on all fours and barked like what us humans expect dogs to do.

"Tommy? Tommy, look!" said Julie quietly as she pointed at one of the trees. "Look up there. There's one of those rare woodpeckers Dad told us about, see?"

Tommy looked up at the small bird sitting on one of branches. "Yeah, I can see it," he said as the woodpecker began to fly to another tree. "It's gone now. Boy, I'm starting to feel hungry," he said as he turned to face his dad.

"How about we stop for some lunch now?" asked Dan. The kids agreed and they arrived at a small clearing where they stopped. Dan took the lunchboxes out of the backpack and handed them to the kids and the dogs, and they were soon tucking into sandwiches. When they had finished eating, the kids ran playfully around the clearing, giggling, and Schaeffer and Broo ran along with them.

Dan smiled and signalled for them to listen. "Hey, how about you four play a game of hide-and-seek?"

Schaeffer and Broo wagged their tails and barked cheerfully as a reply.

"Yeah, that sounds fun!" replied Julie. "But whose turn is it to be 'it'? It was mine last time."

"No it wasn't!" protested Tommy. "I was it last time. And besides, you should be it because I won at tag earlier."

"That's not true!" Julie argued.

"Alright kids," said Dan calmly, "I'll be it, I don't mind. That way, you can both hide. Are you ready?"

"Sure, Dad," said the kids. Dan put the empty lunchboxes in the backpack, covered his eyes and began to count to 100 while the kids and the dogs ran through the trees for a hiding place. Tommy found a hiding place first, shortly followed by Julie, and later, Broo. Schaeffer was the only one without anywhere to hide, and he could hear Dan shouting "Here I come!" in the distance.

Schaeffer caught sight of a large bush standing in between some trees – this wasn't a very good place to hide, but it would have to do. He quickly looked around and leapt into the bush as quietly as he could and looked out in case Dan appeared. Broo was hiding under some plants nearby and barked happily when Schaeffer hid.

"Sssh," Schaeffer whispered. "For this game, you have to keep as quiet as you can. You don't want to be found first." Broo obeyed and moved back further into the plants and lay down so he was out of view.

* * *

The Raccoon gang trudged exhaustedly through the undergrowth of plants and sat down for a rest. Fortunately Bert still knew the way to the mansion through the giant forest, but he too was beginning to give up hope.

"Phew, that was a long stroll," said an exhausted Sophia. "Thank goodness the mansion is much closer now."

"How far are we from the mansion now, Bert?" asked Ralph.

"Not…far…" Bert panted. "I'm gonna have a look ahead, guys." He picked himself up and stepped through some now-huge plants. Bert moved some hanging leaves out of his way and he saw _something_ which sent him running back to the group. "Guys! Guys! There's a monster, a real monster! And it's just over there!"

"A m-m-monster?" Cedric asked worriedly.

"Bert, there's no such thing…" Melissa began.

"I'm serious! This time it _is_ a real monster!" Bert shouted. "Come and see! I'll show you." The gang got up and followed Bert through the plants and he ducked down to stay out of view from the 'monster'. "There, you see? A monster! It's waiting for us. We'll have to creep around it to stay hidden."

"Bert, that's not a monster, that's…that's…" Melissa began to smile.

"That's Schaeffer!" said Ralph. The friends began to look excited.

Bert sighed. "Phew, it's just Schaeffer…Schaeffer? Hey, we can get Schaeffer to take us to the mansion! Come on gang, we'll have to get ourselves noticed!"

The gang began to shout and jump up and down to get Schaeffer's attention, and unlike yesterday's attempt with the pigs, they got a response; Schaeffer looked around wildly and spoke quietly. "Who's there? Guys? Guys, is that you? You're back! Where are you? Broo and I were getting worried about you."

"Schaeffer, we're here!" Ralph shouted as loud as he could.

"Ralph? Where are you? I can't see any of you."

"Look down at the ground," Melissa replied.

Schaeffer looked around the ground and caught sight of the miniaturised Raccoon gang. "Guys! What happened to you? Why are you so small?"

"Schaeffer, are we glad to have bumped into you," said Sophia.

"There's no time to explain, Schaeffer," Cedric called out. "We need to get back to the mansion as soon as possible."

"Back to Sneer Mansion?" Schaeffer asked. "But that could take ages for you all."

While this conversation was taking place, Broo crept out from under the bushes to see what was going on. As soon as he caught sight of the gang, his tail wagged excitedly and he bounded up to Bert and knocked him over. "Aw, Broo! Hi lil' buddy! We've all missed you," Bert gleefully exclaimed as he got back up and hugged the puppy, who was now much taller than he was.

Ralph replied to Schaeffer. "Well, could _you_ get us to the mansion?"

A cry of "Tommy, I've found you!" could be heard in the distance, followed by laughter. Schaeffer looked in the direction of the voices and looked back at his friends.

"Me? Sure, anything to help out," said Schaeffer happily. "But I'll have to help very quickly because I wouldn't want the kids to think I'm missing."

"Thanks Schaeffer," Melissa said. "We knew you'd help us."

"Yeah, you're a good friend as always," added Sophia.

"Alright! Now we can get back to normal," said Bert. He jumped up and pointed in the direction of Sneer Mansion. "Come on gang; let's go to the mansion now! YAHOO! At last!"

Schaeffer scooped up the miniaturized gang and Broo into his large hands. He got to his feet and darted through the forest as fast as he could. As he ran, he sensed it would be a while before he would be with Dan and the kids again, but this was for a good reason.


	7. Chapter 7

The mansion came into view and the whole gang began to celebrate with joy, as this was one of the most welcoming sights they had ever seen. As Schaeffer made his way up to the door, he noticed the pigs looking around the grounds, holding magnifying glasses and peering at the floor. Schaeffer knocked at the door and Cyril appeared a moment later. He looked extremely stressed but tried to put on a tough face to hide it.

"It's you again," Cyril mumbled. "Well, what do you want this time?"

Schaeffer smiled. "Mr Sneer, it's about Cedric and…"

As soon as Cyril heard his son's name, he couldn't act looking fine and suddenly broke down. He sunk down onto his knees and clasped his hands together. "You know about Cedric? Please, I need to know! I've been so worried about where he is or what could have happened to him! Tell me he's safe, ple-ee-ease!" he sobbed.

Schaeffer helped Cyril back to his feet. "Its okay, Cyril. Cedric _is_ safe, but…"

"He is?" interrupted Cyril, A thankful smile spreading across his face. "Thank goodness! That's the best news I've heard all day. Do you know where he is?"

Schaeffer looked at the floor and frowned. "Yes, I do know, but you're not going to be very pleased." He walked past Cyril and approached the small table by the staircase. He placed Broo on the floor and then carefully placed the gang on the tabletop. Cyril curiously made his way to the table to see what was going on and he was shocked at the sight of the miniaturized gang.

He pushed past Schaeffer and gazed at his son. "Cedric? Cedric, my son, what has happened to you?" His voice sounded both shocked and relieved. The pigs heard the commotion from outside and they headed into the mansion to see what was happening. They gulped when the gang appeared in their sight.

"Uh, hi Pop," Cedric waved at his father. "Have you missed me?"

"Have I missed you? Of course I've missed you!" Cyril shouted. "I want to know what's happened to you all!"

"Well, it was like this," Cedric explained. The pigs began signalling for them to be quiet because they knew what was going to be said next, but they went unnoticed. "We were all ready to leave for the camping trip and there was an accident…"

"We got shrunk by that machine!" Bert interrupted. Cedric nodded in approval.

"What is that raccoon talking about?" Cyril asked. "Make sense! What machine?"

"It was meant to be a surprise, but not long ago the pigs and I managed to win you a Zento…Zenta…"

Cyril's eyes widened with glee. "A Zentothred-3000? You mean _a_ Zentothred-3000? I've wanted a one for months! Where is it? I must see it for real." He saw the pigs lurking nearby. "Pigs, take us all to this Z-3000 now!"

The pigs exchanged worried glances. "B-b-but sir…" they began.

"But Pop," said Cedric, "The machine got destroyed in a test-run…"

Cyril didn't hear Cedric's voice and instead focused on the pigs. "Don't stand there and stammer like you're next in line for the meat-axe! Take us to it immediately!" Cyril gave the pigs a menacing look while Schaeffer once again picked up the gang and Broo. The pigs realised there was no point in arguing with the boss so they slowly led the party to the computer room and showed them the inside of the room. Cyril gasped at what he now saw inside the computer room: all around lay half-full bin-bags and pieces of poorly-fixed machine.

"Argh! What's happened here? This is a disaster; my Z-3000 looks ruined, and I haven't even seen it in action! Pigs, explain this NOW! And I thought you were acting funny when you were looking through the plants earlier; did you know about my son's predicament and not tell me?"

Lloyd smiled and chuckled nervously. "Well sir, uh, when you told us to find out about that tremor yesterday, we found the machine all broken, so we took it to the junkyard without you knowing…" he trailed off.

"So _that_ was what caused the mansion to shake yesterday," Cyril realised. "Don't stop talking! Go on!" he shouted. "What's it doing here now?"

"We brought it back when we found out about what happened to them…sir," Boyd said quietly.

Floyd joined in with the story. "I…guess we kinda got carried away about it all…"

Cyril looked annoyed. "You mean to tell me that the one machine I've been aching for months, the one machine that can get my son back to normal, is broken? And you couldn't be bothered to try fixing it, and instead just left it lying in pieces?"

"Oh no, sir!" cried the pigs. "We would've fixed it, sir, honest!" They stepped back in fear.

"When I'm through with you, you'll be in so many pieces, not even kids at a jigsaw convention could put you back together!" Cyril threatened.

"At least they tried to help as best as they could," Schaeffer said calmly to Cyril.

Cyril sighed. "Well, I suppose. But how are we going to fix it? I only know what they look like, not fix like."

"Mr Sneer," Melissa called. "There was an instruction manual came with this. Cedric told us."

Cyril looked at the pieces around the room and then back at the gang. "You know, you raccoons aren't as dumb as you look. But where's the manual for it? Don't tell me it's missing!"

Cedric thought quickly. "I last left it in the kitchen, Pop. I put it there to keep it safe. It should be on the top shelf by the cupboard."

"The kitchen?" Cyril asked frantically. "Quick, someone get the manual and pronto!"

The pigs immediately said "Yes sir!" and scuttled out the room to get it.


	8. Chapter 8

After what seemed like an hour of helping and waiting, the Zentothred-3000 was once again completed. The pigs watched over the dials and lights to check everything was running smoothly while Cyril, Schaeffer and Broo stood nervously near the centre of the room. The tiny clear cubicle had thankfully been found amongst the pieces and it was now carefully positioned under the hairdryer-shaped laser.

The gang climbed into the cubicle together. "Ready!" they shouted.

Boyd pressed one of the buttons on the fixed keyboard and the laser began to glow green once more. A beam of green light shone down on the cubicle and it slowly began to grow, along with the gang inside, until they once again reached normal height. When this was over, the gang burst out of the cubicle and rushed over to Schaeffer and Broo to reunite and celebrate.

"We're back! WE'RE BACK!" Bert celebrated as he gave Broo a big hug. Cyril ran over to his son and gave him a hug too.

"Cedric, I can't tell you how happy I am to see you're fine," he said. But then, he let go and looked angrily at Cedric. "You've made me extremely worried for the past 24 hours. How was I supposed to know that you and your friends had been shrunk and sent to the junkyard? Do you know how scared I've been for your safety?"

"Gee, sorry Pop," Cedric apologised.

Cyril continued. "And that's not all: I've even had to cancel a big business deal, a one that would have brought me millions, because of your disappearance! I ought to ground you for a long time…"

Cedric looked at the floor and everyone else stopped celebrating to listen. "That's harsh," Bert whispered.

"…But I'm not going to."

"You're not?" Cedric asked. He looked back up and began to smile weakly.

"No," Cyril replied, "Because I know that the fatherly love for his son is a lot more important and precious than business deals and money. I'm just happy to know that you're safe." He hugged Cedric again and the gang and the pigs smiled at this.

As the gang prepared to leave, Cyril gazed at the machine and he walked up to it. "Who needs business deals to get rich, now that I have this? I can change a few hundred dollars of gold into millions with this brilliant contraption." He patted the machine, but it couldn't stand this, having been quickly assembled, and it began to crumble. Cyril Sneer watched in disbelief and horror as the Z-3000 shook violently and collapsed to the floor in a heap of dust. Cyril howled in misery as the gang and the pigs laughed together.

* * *

A while later, the gang were walking together through the once-again normal and peaceful forest to the Raccoondominium. They stopped outside the front door and grouped together.

"Boy, it sure feels great to be back to normal height again," Bert said happily as he looked around at the familiar surroundings. "Hey, we should write about this in the next edition of the standard, don't you think?"

"We could. That would make an excellent story," said Melissa. She turned to Schaeffer. "Schaeffer, thank you so much for helping us out back there."

"Yeah, we owe you a lot," Ralph added "By the way Schaeffer, we're sorry we let you and Broo down about the camping trip."

"That's alright, I understand," replied Schaeffer. "How about we have the 'real' camping trip next week? If it's okay with Ralph; it's his camping trip after all."

The gang nodded. "Sure we can," said a pleased Ralph.

"Well, I'd better go back to the mansion," said Cedric to the gang. "I don't want to keep Pop worried again."

"Sure, Cedric," replied Bert. "See ya later! By the way, when your dad gets the machine working again, would I be able to bring along the peanut butter supplies then?"

The gang laughed. "Oh Bert," sighed Melissa.

"Yeah, sure you can." Cedric replied. "Pop wouldn't mind."

"Alright!" cried Bert.

Cedric turned to Sophia and scratched his head. "Sophia, before I go back home, do you wanna go get a milkshake with me?"

"Of course, that'll be nice," Sophia replied. They looked into each other's eyes for a short moment. "Well, goodbye gang," she said to the others.

The gang said and waved goodbye to Cedric and Sophia as they began to walk away from the Raccoondominium together. Schaeffer suddenly spun around and gasped. "Uh-oh, I've forgotten about Dan and the kids. They'll be wondering where me and Broo are. We'd better be going too. See you all soon." He and Broo walked back into the forest.

"Okay Schaeffer. Bye now! Thanks again," Melissa called as the Raccoons and Schaeffer waved to each other. When the dogs were out of view, Bert, Ralph and Melissa approached the Raccoondominium door and opened it to step inside.

"Well guys, I now know something I didn't know before," Bert said. "I know the Evergreen Forest sure is a lot bigger than we thought!"

* * *

The kids and their father were still in the small clearing, but they had stopped playing hide-and-seek and were now calling out for the dogs.

"Schaeffer? Broo? Where are you both?" called Julie happily.

"Come on, you can come out now," Tommy called afterwards, "We give up! You both win."

As if by magic, Schaeffer and Broo burst out from the bushes, bounded over to the kids and leapt up at them as if to say "hello, we're back". The kids giggled and Ranger Dan walked over to the commotion to pet the dogs. "There they are, kids," Dan told them.

"Yeah, Daddy!" Tommy replied as Broo licked his face. "Hey, where _were_ you both hiding?"

Julie patted Schaeffer's head and giggled again. "Yeah. We were starting to get worried just there. We searched _everywhere_ and we couldn't find either of you at all."

"They must have been hiding so well we couldn't find them," suggested Tommy.

Dan laughed. "Yep, they certainly found a good hiding place," he agreed. "Now, who wants to finish this trail with some cool strawberry ice-cream?"

Schaeffer and Broo licked their lips at the thought of the ice-cream.

"Strawberry ice-cream?" the kids said to each other in excitement, "Oh yummy!"

And with that, the family made their way back through the Evergreen Forest to the cabin and home.

The End!


End file.
